(1919-1970) CAA; 12" x 16", Oil on canvas. Framed. Nicholas S. Firfires is a traditional western painter and illustrator specializing in the west of the 1920's and 30's. Firfires is a descendant of the California Vaqueros, depicted by James Walker in the 1870's, living on the big ranches back of Santa Barbara in San Luis Obispo County. He worked with horses until he was 24, alongside the old vaqueros, then attended the Art Center School in the oldest AI in LA. During WWII, he served with the Army engineers as an artist. In 1945, Firfires turned to illustrations for Western magazines, and beginning in 1957, devoted himself to easel paintings. In 1969, Firfires won a silver medal at a Cowboy Hall of Fame exhibition. in 1970, he married the daughter of the cowboy actor Buck Jones, whose comic strip Firfires drew in the 1950's. "Someone asked me once", he said, " why my cowboys are always moving toward the right of my paintings. This is because a cowboy has his rope on the right side of his horse, so I paint him in a way that it shows."
PERIOD: Mid 20th Century
ORIGIN: California, United States